Pacers Trade Artest

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:59 pm

Long-awaited deal comes to fruition for Pacers
ESPN.com news services

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers have agreed to trade Ron Artest to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Peja Stojakovic pending league approval, ESPN's Jim Gray has confirmed Tuesday.

The deal closes a chapter in the Pacers' latest drama involving the volatile star forward.

Kings owners Gavin and Joe Maloof on ESPNEWS would not comment directly on ESPN's report that the Kings pending league approval will trade Peja Stojakovic to the Pacers for Ron Artest.

Artest was a key component to a team that was expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown. He led the league in steals and was the Pacers' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points a game before being deactivated after publicly requesting a trade in early December.

In five years with the Pacers, Artest was an All-Star once and was the NBA's defensive player of the year in 2003-04.

Pacers GM Larry Bird said the Pacers had been interested in Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers, but there was "no question" that Maggette's sprained left foot affected the process. Maggette averaged 21.7 points in 13 games before getting injured in early December.

The Pacers have lost four of their last five games, including Monday to the Atlanta Hawks, who have the NBA's worst record.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2304512

air_hog · Post by **air_hog** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:23 pm

Dang!

I thought he was going to go to The Lakeshow for Odom...

Looks like a pretty even deal, I mean with Peja Indiana looks pretty scary.

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:36 pm

To bad they couldn't work TO into the deal??

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:09 pm

wow, with Peja on the wing and Jermaine O'neal on the block, the pacers just got alot more dangerous.

jeremyroyce · Post by **jeremyroyce** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:24 pm

I Just heard that the deal has been undone..Artest did not want to go to the Queens

skinsfan1 · Post by **skinsfan1** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:14 pm

jeremyroyce wrote:I Just heard that the deal has been undone..Artest did not want to go to the Queens

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2304512

It's true......

air_hog · Post by **air_hog** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:00 pm

Oh my god, Artest is such a fricken drama queen.

I used to like him, but now he is just a loser.

jeremyroyce · Post by **jeremyroyce** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:20 pm

I'm watching the Queens right now, Ron Artest said that it was never about him not wanting to go to the Queens, he said his agent was handling things

skinsfano28 · Post by **skinsfano28** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:22 pm

i still want to see artest try to get along with kobe bryant. if phil can make it work, the comparisons to michael/scotty might actually be worth listening to.

skinsRin · Post by **skinsRin** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:56 pm

He wants to go to NY or LA

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:53 am

He needs the Coles deal. Larry Bird should buy him a plasma and send him home. Keep him on the injured list for the remainder of his contract, so he can't play and he can't go anywhere else.

Fios · Post by **Fios** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:57 pm

I think the Pacers have handled this very badly

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:35 pm

The way both parties have handled this whole situation reminds me of school at Thanksgiving. No class, turkey.

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:19 am

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01506.html

Artest is officially a Queen.

Fios · Post by **Fios** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:49 am

Proves my point, why in god's name wasn't this trade made four weeks ago?

skinsRin · Post by **skinsRin** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:11 am

So, now he will go there afterall. I bet his agent talked him into it, because he was hurting himself by be selfish by not wanting to play for a team. By going there and if he plays hard and smart he'll get a big contract, whenever this one is up. So, he has to suck it up and play in Northern CA. for a couple of years.

skinsfano28 · Post by **skinsfano28** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:22 pm

well the owner of the Pacers said this to artest (paraphrasing):

eiter you accept the trade, or we'll suspend you without pay. period.

since artest's rapping isn't going to make him a lot of money in the first place, he couldnt forgo another season's salary, so he had to accept the trade.

oh yeah...i got into college too...pretty sweet